Hello, winter festivites!

With Thanksgiving behind us, I can now admit that I am really feeling Christmas this year! It's not usually my favorite, but this year I've decided to celebrate the holiday in my own way. I've decorated my tree with my favorite ornaments from years past, plus bats, skulls, spiders and spider webs. Borrowing strongly from the decor at Haunted Mansion Holiday, I think it adds a macabre yet festive touch to my living room.

Let's not forget about the activities - there are good ones this year. I'm not a fan of the carols and typical Christmas songs - I want irreverent, sarcastic, or odd Christmas activities. First up is Santa Claus Conquers the Martians at the Maverick Theater in Fullerton, then it's the SantaLand Diaries at the Blank Theater Company in Los Angeles. I've never been to either, but I am expecting great things from SCCtM, and I love David Sedaris' style of humor, so there are high hopes for that as well.



That's all that's planned for the month so far, but I hope both activities are great.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving tends to be overlooked since it's so close to the mega-holiday Christmas, but there are a few Thanksgiving-themed movies to watch if post-meal football and family-treacle aren't your thing.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles - A John Hughes classic with Steve Martin and John Candy struggling to get home for Thanksgiving.

The House of Yes - A dark comedy with Parker Posey playing a mentally unstable woman who freaks out when her brother comes home for Thanksgiving with a fiancee.

Dutch - Adorable young Ethan Embry has to travel with his mom's boyfriend Al Bundy [aka Ed O'Neill] to get to Thanksgiving dinner.


Addams Family Values - The movie doesn't center around Thanksgiving, but there is a memorable scene from summer camp where Pugsley dresses up like a turkey, and Wednesday is Pocahontas.

Link dump

Here are some interesting links that have been collecting dust:

A Scooby-Doo/Zombie mashup tee - truly fantastic
An a-mazing homemade tauntaun Halloween costume
Classic spooky cartoons (#1 & #6 are two of my all-time faves)
Boy eats Girl - an enjoyable Irish zombie movie. Reviews are mixed, but it was enjoyable.
A beautiful (but sadly inedible) bone wedding cake
Vintage Halloween magazine covers
The bots with stuff part of the Shoebox blog
Zombie Christmas cards
Tiny AT-AT dog
UFO abduction lamp
Captain EO rumors (fingers crossed!)

Beautiful zombie photography

Since Halloween, we've talked of putting on more makeup and fake blood and going out. I really want to find a zombie walk in my area. For now, this will have to do. The photos are from the Zombie Fest and Walk of the Dead at Monroeville Mall in Monroeville, Pa. The very mall where "Dawn of the Dead" was filmed. You'll recognize it immediately.


It hasn't changed much.



Dragging the undead through the mall.



From the article: Derek Thompson (right), a 24-year-old machinist from Carrollton, Ohio, bought worms at a pet store and attached them — still writhing — to his face with pins, tape and liquid latex. “People get a kick out of the worms, especially when they touch them and didn’t know they’re real,” he said.



There are a lot more photos on the article page, as well as more explanation about the zombie walk and the history of the mall.

The seven stages of grief

Over the last three days you've probably experienced a range of emotions. First, you might be shocked that October is over, and Halloween gone. Then you might feel guilty about that local haunted house that you never visited, and those late-night kids who didn't get any candy. Then you might feel...a little angry. Why, stupid Christmas decorations, why are you in stores already? Then you can reflect on all those good times you had. October is a wonderful month - wasn't 2009 the best one ever? After that, you started to think "It's okay! There's always next year! Every day is Halloween! I'll make it through the next 364 days!" Congratulations, you've officially accepted November.

There are plenty of spooky things left to do. In my case, it's a backlog of Halloween-themed TiVo'ed shows like Food Network Challenge - Horror cakes. If you haven't watched it, try to catch it in reruns. My personal favorite didn't win because it was too humorous and not scary enough, but I maintain that moving cannibal cupcakes are very, very scary. I've also got roughly 43 more movies to watch from my Horror Movie Classics box set, and, at some point, the Halloween decorations come down. Oh, here I go into denial again...